Bike ferry resumes on Lake Champlain

COLCHESTER, Vt. – A ferry service for cyclists on the Colchester Causeway in Lake Champlain is back in business after a two-year absence caused by flood damage.

The Colchester Causeway Bike Ferry resumed service along the Island Line Trail on June 14, said Chapin Spencer, the executive director of Local Motion, the group that runs the ferry.

“We had a good first weekend,” Spencer told the Burlington Free Press. “The weather was great Friday and Saturday and we had hundreds of boardings each day.”

It took to 545 donations and countless hours of work to restore the ferry service.

The bike ferry connects a 200-foot water gap in the historic three-mile marble railroad causeway that crosses Lake Champlain between Colchester and South Hero.

The 14-mile Island Line Trail unites the Burlington Bike Path, the Colchester Causeway and the Allen Point Fish and Wildlife Access Area in South Hero.

Local Motion is a member-supported nonprofit promoting people-powered transportation and recreation.

During the summer, the ferry runs on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. In the fall it runs Saturdays, Sundays and holidays with the same hours. Spencer said the service will have to be suspended in certain high wind conditions.

Day tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children. Season passes are available.

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